The First Ring
by Perzona
Summary: Why Genesis picks up his phone on the very first ring. Crackfic.


Genesis Rhapsodos had three peculiar habits.

Firstly, he quotes Loveless excessively. No matter where he went, the book will always be with him. The cover is extremely clean, as though it had been kept in good condition. When he opens the book, the pages will be filled with small notes made in pencil.

Be it during meals or walking down the hallways in the Shinra building, he would quote the words of Loveless with a melodious tone. But of course, his habit annoys his two friends: Sephiroth and Angeal.

Secondly, Genesis will almost always be seen holding a Banora Apple. Everyone in Shinra would report seeing him with a Loveless book in his left hand and a Banora Apple on the right. How Genesis got a hold on apples grown from his home village every day, no one will ever know.

It always stuns Angeal on how Genesis could consume so many apples in one day. Sure, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But for Genesis to consume an apple at nearly every half an hour, he might as well keep the hospital away from himself. Sephiroth would simply look away in disgust. How could Genesis stand eating _blue_ apples on a daily basis?

Finally, Genesis will only pick up the phone after five rings or more. It was a habit that drove hundreds of colleagues and bosses mad, especially when they needed him urgently. Genesis had no reason for this particular habit, except that he was just lazy. He would give no exceptions to anyone. Be it Angeal, Sephiroth, the Shinra president, Rufus Shinra or Director Lazard, he will only pick the call up on or after the fifth ring.

Angeal warned him several times to change his habit, but Genesis didn't see a need to.

"You'll get fired if you continue doing that. One second makes all the difference in the world."

Genesis just sat back in his chair and held up Loveless. "Relax Angeal. Do you see anything happening to me yet? Besides, Shinra can't fire me; I'm one of their top three SOLDIERs. Where are they going to find someone else like me?"

Angeal just sighed. But he leaned forward and said: "Fine, you put up a good argument. But still, try to change your habit before something really happens."

"Yeah, yeah Angeal. I'll change it when I feel like it."

Angeal turned to Sephiroth, who was just listening to their conversation. The silver haired man simply shrugged his shoulders. "You're his childhood friend Angeal. If you can't convince him, no one can."

Finally, Angeal admitted defeat for the day. Genesis simply smirked and continued reading Loveless. There was no reason to change this habit. After all, there are no consequences for doing so, right?

On his day off, Genesis sat at the balcony of his apartment, reading Loveless again. He began quoting the whole book as he read the lines of the poem. After he finished reading the book, Genesis felt thirsty. He left the book on the railing of the balcony and went to his kitchen to get a drink.

Just after he sat down with an apple juice in hand, his phone rang. Genesis rolled his eyes and placed the phone on the table. As usual, he sipped his drink and left it there to ring. On the fifth ring, he finally picked it up. "Yes Angeal?"

"Genesis, there-"

Angeal suddenly went quiet. Genesis heard a loud 'thud'. He waited for awhile but there was no response from Angeal. "Angeal, hey what's going on?"

Just then, he heard the sound of a few lorries driving past Angeal. Genesis waited again, but there was simply no response. After a few moments of silence, he decided to call Angeal once more. "Angeal, what do you want to tell me? Say something."

Now, someone else was talking. "Err… Genesis, this is Sephiroth. Angeal seems to be… frozen in time. He kept staring at an object on the ground. I suspect that it's a boo-"

"Don't say anything!"

There was a ruffling sound and Angeal spoke again. "Err… Genesis… I think you should see this. Please come down to the entrance of the building."

Genesis clicked his phone shut and made his way down the building.

He found Angeal and Sephiroth staring at an object on the road. What looked like white pieces of paper were scattered all about the area, flying along with the wind. It was clearly a book. Genesis tapped their shoulders and asked: "So, what did you call me for?"

Angeal slowly turned around and cleared his throat. "Erm… Sephiroth… I think you should pick that object up."

Sephiroth hesitantly made his way over to the road and picked it up. He returned with the object in hand and said: "A word of caution Genesis: what you're about to see won't look pretty."

Then, he revealed what it was. Genesis was dumbstruck. Angeal gently brushed the remains of the book in an attempt to make it clean again. But what's done was done; that book was beyond repair. "N-No way…!"

Genesis fell onto his knees and stared ahead. Angeal then tried his best to explain what happened. "I was coming out of the building. When I looked up at your balcony, Loveless was nearly about to fall off the railing. I tried to call you to tell you but… you didn't pick up yet. The wind came and…" Angeal gulped. "It fell."

Genesis felt as though a knife just stabbed his heart. Then, Angeal swallowed hard and continued. "I was about to get it when a few lorries drove past the building. And… they ran over your book…"

A second knife stabbed Genesis's heart. Sephiroth gave a small smile and said: "Well, if you would pick up on the very first ring, you might've been able to save that book."

With that, the silver haired man thrusted the remains of Genesis's beloved Loveless into his hands. "It's alright. There are plenty more Loveless being sold everywhere. Make sure to get one as soon as possible."

The third knife went through Genesis's heart. Angeal gave Genesis an apologetic smile and escorted him back to his room to recover from the trauma.

From then onwards, Genesis always made it a point to pick up his calls on the first ring.


End file.
